Java char type
In this chapter you will learn:
- What is Java char type
- Size of Java char type
- Value range for Java char type
- Java char type literals
- Example - Java char type
- How to create char Literals
- Example - Store unicode into a char
Description
In Java, char stores characters. Java uses Unicode to represent characters. Unicode can represent all of the characters found in all human languages.
Size
Java char is a 16-bit type.
Value Range
The range of a char is 0
to 65,536
.
There are no negative chars.
Literals
Characters in Java are indices into the Unicode character set.
character is represented inside a pair of single quotes.
For example, 'a'
, 'z'
, and '@'
.
Example
Here is a program that demonstrates char variables:
public class Main {
public static void main(String args[]) {
char ch1, ch2;
//from w ww . j av a 2 s. c o m
ch1 = 88; // code for X
ch2 = 'Y';
System.out.print("ch1 and ch2: ");
System.out.println(ch1 + " " + ch2);//ch1 and ch2: X Y
}
}
The code above generates the following result.
ch1
is assigned the value 88,
which is the ASCII (and Unicode) value that corresponds to the letter X
.
char
type value can be used as an integer type and
you can perform arithmetic operations.
public class Main {
public static void main(String args[]) {
char ch1;/*from w w w. j a v a2s. c o m*/
ch1 = 'X';
System.out.println("ch1 contains " + ch1);//ch1 contains X
ch1 = (char)(ch1 + 1); // increment ch1
System.out.println("ch1 is now " + ch1);//ch1 is now Y
}
}
Example 2
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] argv) {
char ch = 'a';
/*from w w w . j a va 2 s. c om*/
System.out.println("ch is " + ch);//ch is a
ch = '@';
System.out.println("ch is " + ch);//ch is @
ch = '#';
System.out.println("ch is " + ch);//ch is #
ch = '$';
System.out.println("ch is " + ch);//ch is $
ch = '%';
System.out.println("ch is " + ch);//ch is %
}
}
The code above generates the following result.
Example 3
The following code stores unicode value into a char variable.
The unicode literal uses \uxxxx
format.
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) {
int x = 75;//from w ww. j av a 2s. c om
char y = (char) x;
char half = '\u00AB';
System.out.println("y is " + y + " and half is " + half);
}
}
The code above generates the following result.
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What you will learn in the next chapter: